Newbie: Winter Wisconsin camping without Polar/Arctic/etc

We use a tent, every year, first weekend in February......no frozen water lines

On my OFF-ROAD POPUP trailer I have wrap around seating which gives me cabinet passages all the way from my door entrance around the tent bed end where the wrap around seating arrangement is and the eintire back wall all the way to the other tent bed end...

You can see this in this floor plane photo...

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What I have done which is not finished yet is to install some of the small round plastic vents (LOWES) in all of the interconnecting walls inside all of the cabinets and storage space allowing ventilation though all of the cabinets.

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I will install a quiet running DC Fan in the storage cabinet wall that is next to my door area which will pull air through all of these cabinets. I will have either door vents or more of these small round plastic vents mounted on the outside of the cabinet next to the right tent bed shown in the this photo.

My original problem is I have alot of electronics mounted in these cabinets and wanted to provide some cooling air but this idea should help out out big time keeping the interior of these cabinets at the same temperature as the interior of the POPUP.


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I have also installed those 2' x 2' stick down carpet squares (LOWES) on the bed floor under the mattress and inside the trailer main floor. This has helped alot keeping the inside feeling warmer... The only drawback is I never realized how much I tracked into the trailer until I installed carpet on the floors... Amazing how many crunched leaves comes inside for us camping off-road.. Makes me stomp my bottom step before coming inside now...


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I have been known to throw a 20ft by 30ft blue tarp over my whole trailer running to the ground on the back side and tying off on the front side where the awning ends. Every little bit helps keeping warm... The blowing winds is the killer when using POPUP trailers...

Roy Ken

I typically hunt Whitetails about 20 miles from Canada, in Northern MN. We've seen temps as low as -15 for days. Also seen major Winter storms go through, dropping a foot of snow. I've done this in less than suitable trailers but we've always had a good time and our socks are dry by morning. The most important thing is to have a good heating appliance and enough gas to run it. We typically bring two 100 lb tanks for a week of hunting. If it's warm, we may only use half of one cylinder. If it's very cold we may have to switch tanks during our stay.

I now have a trailer that is super insulated but haven't been Winter camping with it yet. I'm sure it will be more comfortable than the previous rig we used. Some things you can do to get comfortable--block off the glass,especially at night, with foam board. That stuff works great as a insulator and is easy to cut to friction fit window frames. Typically I use a duct tape flap so removal is easy. Skirt the trailer, again with foam board or wood sheathing. Straw is too bulky to carry and install unless installation is permanent. Still, I would want a barrier between trailer and straw. Think about your heating appliance. I pulled the RV furnace in mine and installed a different space heater that is more efficient and heats better than what was OEM. Look at the under belly and see how it can be better insulated. Most can be improved. A warm floor adds considerably to comfort.

Good luck hunting! A warm trailer is sure nice when the weather gets cold.

We winter camp quite often. No water in any tank, down the drains, or shower. We use a port-a-potty so it can be dumped (wherever) and water is carried in with our 6 gallon water jugs (we have 4 of them). Water is caught is a tub in the kitchen sink, and just tossed out the door. We take cat-bath showers, warm water on the stove. We still like to winter camp with electricity, we are not boomdockers and we still go to State Parks that have electricity, but water, bathrooms, and shower houses are closed and turned off. So we use the port-a-potty and dump that into a pit toilet. (no chemicals).

Ours is mostly week-ends, so propane and electric usage is not an issue as we use both electric heat and propane in the winter.

Now, if the trailer was sitting permanent at one spot, I'd probably want to under skirt it and insulate it better too. But for our purposes, we travel around too much.

To successfully winter camp, you have to think of your camper as a glorified tent. If you were tent camping, you would not have running water and a toilet. How do you camp when using a tent? Tents don't come with stoves and televisions either. Do the same thing with your camper and you'll be successful winter camping in an RV... except you won't have to sleep on the ground! Absolutely no water in the camper's systems anywhere, and you'll be just fine.

We camped at a place a few winters back using a popup. The propane heater with a 20 pound tank kept the tent camper at about 68 degrees for two days. No water but we did have electric. Temps dipped into the twenties and high teens. It was fine for a weekend. I wouldn't want to do much more than that. Good sleeping bags helped fend off the cold as well.

For a week or two at hunting camp, if you accept no water system, just about any trailer will do fine down to the teens (yeah, you may go thru quite a bit of propane if it's down in the teens). Just winterize the water system and leave it alone. (I prefer the pink antifreeze as it's easy for a bit of water to sit in a low spot waiting to freeze later).

The other stuff comes up if you plan to spend the winter in the rig. At that point, living without a water system is a much bigger issue.

Yes, a lot of it is marketing. Look for features not an arctic rating (underbelly insulation, heated underbelly, heated waste tanks, double pane windows, etc...).

You mention generator. I would be careful with that. If you run out of fuel in the middle of the night and you are using the water system, things could freeze up before you wake up.

I guess what I'm looking for is:
1) are there any serious flaws in my plan (such as fire hazard with straw skirt, thanks for pointing it out)
2) am I at risk of hurting the TT

I know it won't be fancy, but it'll be somewhat heated, dry, and out of wind. The TT should be better than a tent by far.

Thanks for pointer on blowing out unit. Seems pretty doable.

You will find walls and floor and ceiling are very poorly insulated and will be cold. But a darn sight warmer than any tent. And the mattress beats the ground at night. Straw bales work for skirting but are a fire hazard. House trailer skirting works well. And you certainly will need a dehumidifier to keep the condensation off walls and ceiling. Just your breath will cause that. Use the furnace, it is safely vented outside. Avoid like the plague unvented propane or other fueled heaters lest you asphixiate yourself. Some folks here will recommend them, but they are dangerous.

Appears you already have answer. Practical? My question to you would be: Would you be comfortable camping like that after retiring to your camper after a long cold day's hunt?

To blow out water, buy an air adapter for city water hookup, open both drains and all faucets including shower as well as prop open toilet flap, and water heater drain plug, then attach air hose and blow. Be aware that most compressors put out way too much pressure for trailer water lines, so never let air flow while valves/faucets are closed. Let it blow for a while to get all possible water out. Close the two drains while blowing, as they drain first. Let it blow for an hour or so. Remember to run the water pump for a few minutes while blowing to get water out of there, too. Finally, remove air hose, before closing faucets/valves.